With biting cold conditions sweeping across the national Capital, the Delhi Government has swung into action with construction of 54 new temporary night shelters in the city. The government on Monday informed the Delhi High Court that the temporary night shelters will be in addition to its existing 64 permanent night shelters. Last week the High Court had asked the Government to restart its 84 night shelters that were closed by it citing low occupancy and high maintenance cost involved.

The Government, however, informed that court that it would not restore the night shelters constructed near the railway tracks, and under the flyovers due to security concerns. It also reiterated that people were not turning up to the shelters and most of them were lying unused. The counsel appearing for the Government said, “Mobilisation of people is very low, people are not going there (night shelters).” But the court hit back at the counsel’s argument saying the poor and the needy were not showing up at the night shelters because of lack of proper infrastructure. “There is no proper infrastructure, that’s why people are not going in the night shelters,” the Court said.

Observing that NGOs have to don the responsibility of disseminating awareness about the night shelters, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said that such social organisations should try to bring in more needy people to the shelters. Meanwhile, during the hearing, the petitioner NGO blamed the Government and the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for demolition of night shelters without any prior information. The NGO, that runs few night shelters, had alleged that the Government had stopped funding them, forcing them to shut down the facilities.

On the other hand, the Government submitted that it has already asked for land from DDA for construction of night shelters. It also informed the Court that within a week, seven new shelters will be opened for children. The city Government also informed the court that 64 permanent and 54 temporary (portable cabin) shelters are already functioning in the city.

Irked over the closure of 84 temporary night shelters in the national capital against its orders, the Delhi High Court had on December 13 directed the city Government to reopen them immediately. The court also pulled up the Delhi Government for shutting down the night shelters citing low occupancy. The Delhi High Court had taken a suo motu cognizance on the basis of media reports about a night shelter’s demolition in 2010.